Arturas Karnisovas is now on the hot seat in the wake of yet another brutal losing season for the Chicago Bulls, according to seasoned league insider Marc Stein.
The franchise is said to conduct important meetings soon to discuss its direction, and Karnisovas’ future will certainly be discussed. This 2025-26 season serves as the sixth year of Karnisovas being the team’s top executive. As such, the team has only appeared in just one postseason since he took over as the Bulls’ Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.
The Bulls are now out of postseason contention. They are in the 12th spot of the Eastern Conference with a 29-49 record.
The numbers paint a stark picture of stagnation. After six full seasons at the helm, Karnisovas has delivered just one playoff appearance — a modest first-round exit that now feels like a distant outlier rather than the beginning of sustained success. With the team once again firmly on the outside looking in, the upcoming front-office meetings carry unusually high stakes. League observers expect the organization to conduct a thorough review of basketball operations, with Karnisovas’ performance and long-term vision squarely under the microscope.
Yet even as the spotlight intensifies on the executive suite, the Bulls are still looking to retain the service of head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan has emerged as a top collegiate candidate, primarily in North Carolina. The Hall of Famer notably led Florida to back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball titles in 2006 and 2007.
The contrast is telling. While Karnisovas faces mounting questions about his stewardship after years of sub-.500 basketball and limited playoff progress, Donovan’s name continues to surface in high-level conversations — both within the NBA and in college ranks. His proven pedigree at the highest levels of the sport has kept him in demand, even as the Bulls’ season spirals toward an early close. Whether Chicago can persuade him to stay amid the uncertainty surrounding the front office remains one of the more intriguing subplots as the organization prepares for what could be a pivotal off-season.
For now, the message from league insiders is clear: pressure is building in Chicago, and the decisions made in the coming weeks will likely shape the Bulls’ trajectory for years to come. Karnisovas, once viewed as a patient architect of contention, now finds himself fighting to prove that patience still has its rewards.